Huskies Got A Reprieve

UConn Women Streak is nice — now, play for the championship

November 18, 2010

Were you just a bit apprehensive about the prospect of the UConn women playing Baylor so early in the season? You had reason to be. The long, tall Texans gave the Huskies about all they could handle Tuesday night at the XL Center. But the incomparable Maya Moore and her mates prevailed, scrambling from eight points back to win by a point, 65-64.

The game had every kind of drama and tension, back and forth, Sturm und Drang; it was a marvelous advertisement for women's college basketball. And it runs the Huskies' unbeaten streak to 80 games, longest in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. Can the white and blue surpass the UCLA men's skein of 88 from the 1970s?

It would be nice, but it's not Coach Geno Auriemma's principal goal, nor should it be. Streaks are broken and restarted; that is the nature of sport. The winner of the 2011 national championship remains the winner forever. Mr. Auriemma is playing tough teams early in the schedule, largely eschewing the cupcakes, to get his young team ready for March.

It makes for great basketball; enjoy it, revel in it, go the games. At some time, inevitably, an opponent will turn into the Lakers for a night and hit every shot it throws up, while UConn will be slightly off its game and the streak will end. But not this week.